Well I am, again, at an airport but this time heading to Texas for a clinic. I have not seen Jackie and my other Texas students now for a few months, so I'm interested to see all the progress. Sometimes it is easier to see the differences when I don't see the horses everyday. It should be fun!

I had a great weekend! It all started by taking Quincy, my wonderful sponsored horse from Elizabeth Guarisco-Wolf, to meet up with Pelvic/Spinal genius Dr. Philippe Benoit. He only comes to the US every couple of months, and he was in Middleburg VA on Friday. He was going to be at Katie Prudent's barn; about 40 minutes from the Leesburg show grounds. So we packed both Quincy and Fiji (who was showing) and off we headed.

After doing his lameness exam and a few pelvic ultrasounds, he concluded that Quincy had indeed torn a muscle at the attachment to his iishium. (his seat bone). Which totally explained everything! He looked internally at his spine and also found that he had at some point in his life injured his L6-S1 disc and had a little pressure on his sciatic nerve. (Hmmm. . I have the same thing! Ruptured disc in L5/S1! Ha ha is that related?!?!) So we treated that and we have to rest the muscle for a few more months, but other wise he should return to normal. YAY!!!!!!!!!!! He is so talented and amazing! He loves to work as well, so I'm so happy we finally have a diagnosis and it's something that can heal and be totally fine!

So after the news about Quincy, I felt like I didn't care what happened over the wknd at the show! I was still so entirely happy about Quincy I didn't care! I had been so sad and depressed about this amazing horse possibly facing early retirement just because no one could find the injury. (And I mean some of the best vets in the country couldn't find out what was wrong!) It was so frustrating all winter, so I was on cloud 9 to finally know what was wrong! Fiji had to be trooper on Friday because he had to come to the other barn and hang out while Quincy got worked on, and then together go on to the show. (I'm a safely freak, so I didn't want to take one horse off the trailer at the show and leave the other on the trailer, just to freak out and possibly get injured.)

Fiji is a terrifically tempered boy, but he does have a little internal tension, so he was emotionally exhausted by the time we finally got to the show. I rode him around 6 pm, and didn't do too much because he was spent. He schooled a little tired, but I didn't let it affect my confidence. I knew he would show up ready to rock and roll on Saturday.

And he sure did! He warmed up a little tight in his back, but after about 25 minutes he felt great. The temps were starting to get closer to 85 degrees, so I decided to go early. Thankfully I was able to take a scratched spot. I felt like I needed maybe 3 more minutes, but I had committed to the new time, so I had to go in. Well he was super. A little green in his balance and in the pirouettes, but I was so pleased with him. Such a great horse he is! He got a 66% on his first Prix St George!

The next day Molly and I had to wait around until 2:40 for my ride. It was so hot and we were so bored! It was something different having only one horse at a show. We are so used to starting before dawn with braiding and hand walking, that this was something new. But Molly reminded me that the Olympics would be the same! J So we did our first Developing Horse test and he was even better than the day before! I was elated with how he felt and the score was a 68.8%! He certainly is a child prodigy!

We made it home safe and sound, and I'm not sure how it happened, but I was a little tired that evening! Ha ha! 5 am came early the next morning, but I love what I do! There is nothing else I would want to be doing in this world, besides enjoying horses in my life and educating their riders! Everyday is truly a gift! I hope you all are starting to enjoy the spring weather and hope to see you around! You can check my clinic & show schedule on my website, follow me on twitter, or join my fan page on FB! Happy riding!